A workshop on heritage management was convened last month at the Dutch Institute in Zamalek, Jill Kamil reports Netherlands/Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC) and the American Research Centre in Egypt (ARCE) convened a one-day Heritage Management Workshop on 22 November to review the current situation in Egypt and discuss a way forward. In her opening address Kim Duistermaat, director of the Netherlands Institute, which hosted the event, said: "Archaeology is no longer purely an academic discipline. Research and site protection are two sides of the same coin. Archaeology is a study of the past; site management relates to the present." There was a certain irony in a high-level discussion on Architectural Heritage Management (AHM) taking place at such a time in Egypt's history when, following the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak and his government, the future is so uncertain. However, its staging was appropriate because the priorities for a new government under Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri rest on restoring order, security, and reviving the economy. Tourism being a mainstay of the Egyptian economy, control of the country's rich archaeological heritage is of major concern in the so-called post-revolutionary era. The Antiquities Brief swung from the SCA (Supreme Council of Antiquities), to a newly formed Ministry of State for Antiquities, and then back again to the SCA within a few months, clearly indicating government uncertainty on how to deal with a complex problem. While the ousted government's approach to conserving archaeological sites came in for serious criticism from many sources and it seemed like an appropriate time to wipe the slate clean and start anew, that would appear to be easier said than done. A number of long-term USAID-funded projects (in collaboration with ARCE) signed with the SCA in 1993, 1995, and 2002 for restoration, conservation, management and training have already been completed or are in progress, requiring the identity of the SCA to be maintained. Unfortunately Mustafa Amin, the newly appointed secretary-general of the SCA, who was scheduled to give the opening talk, was not able to attend, and so the invited professional audience had no official input on vitally important topics listed for discussion, such as governmental policy and the role of international organisations; the role of civil interest groups and local communities; and examples of archaeological heritage management in practice. Four speakers, professionals in specialised fields committed to the future of Egypt's archaeological heritage, outlined their most grave concerns. They provided food for thought and discussion, but unfortunately could do no more than outline plans for the further development of initiatives, projects and working groups in the absence of the SCA secretary-general. Egyptologist Salima Ikram, who for many years has been actively involved in the care of Egypt's monuments made it clear that, ideally: "Site management should be environmentally and aesthetically sensitive, sustainable and, like any conservation or preservation intervention, easily reversible." But how can damage already done be reversed? Can a philosophy based on "open-air museums" be changed to one of sustainable development? Qualified Egyptians have worked alongside foreign experts in many projects, have benefited from their expertise, and have gained experience. But that, of course, is no longer considered enough. Site management is today acknowledged as the single most important means to preserve, to prepare, and to protect archaeological sites from the gravest danger that faces them today: tourism. To this end, sites have been developed for touristic promotion all over the country, and the authentic historical worth of many have been sacrificed to consumer-oriented displays and the facilities considered necessary for them. For example, the decision to develop Luxor into an open-air museum has already altered the face of historic Luxor. The Nile-side road leading from Luxor temple to Karnak has been destroyed to cater for tour buses, and a large segment of the local population has been uplifted and re-located in order to re-create the Sphinx Avenue linking the two temples. On the Theban necropolis, the people of historic Qurna have likewise been uprooted and their homes (apart from a few selected examples) bulldozed to the ground. And in Egypt's capital, behind the erection of the pseudo-Roman walls in Old Cairo and the superficial beautification of the frontages of the buildings in Muizz Al-Din Street in historic Cairo, was the belief that this would make them more attractive to tourists. This concept, which arose from the International Cultural Tourism Charter ratified in 1999, specified the strengthening of links between culture, economics and tourist development through integrated planning. It further emphasised that any development or upgrading for tourism should respect the nature and character of different areas and avoid jeopardising cultural and social values. Unfortunately, decisions to carry out beautification programmes to attract tourists was at the expense of local communities. The governor of Cairo ordered the removal of the clothing stalls in the Al-Ghuriya area close to the mosque of Al-Azhar to give a "civilised" look to the area, at the same time pedestrianising it. He ordered the removal of the traditional pottery industry and its historic kilns from Batn Al-Baqara on the fringe of Fustat, near the Roman-Byzantine fortress in Old Cairo, without consideration for the fact that the industries had traditionally been located there. Was it the fault of the governor alone? No, of course not. The governorate is directly involved in urban upgrading. It deals with traffic problems and the construction of roads. It does not consider the boundaries of archaeologically protected zones because they have never been defined. And with no legislation for heritage management, mistakes were made. It would have been good to hear from Mustafa Amin what the future might hold in store, and perhaps some confirmation that there was an awareness at government level that it was not in Egypt's interests to concentrate on tourism at the expense of the country's historical and archaeological heritage. Willem Willems, dean of the faculty of archaeology at Leiden University, outlined the importance of the management of archaeological remains in the context of spatial development. He provided three examples of AHM policies and standards in Europe and elsewhere, and said that much depended on the way in which heritage management in a given context actually worked in practice. He also made reference to reversibility. "Some theoretical disadvantages can be remedied by the way in which things are being done in real life," he said. In the case of Egypt, however, one must bear in mind that there are hundreds of historical and archaeological sites all over the country, seven of them on UNESCO's World Heritage List, and so it presents a unique situation. As Gihane Zaki (currently a consultant for UNESCO's Regional Bureau for Science in Arab States and who has broad experience of heritage management in Egypt) pointed out, each site poses a different quandary when it comes to sustainability. The aim of the Heritage Management Workshop was to gather together professionals committed to the future of Egypt's archaeological heritage, and provide food for thought and discussion. This it certainly achieved. Discussions and suggestions ranged from the problems of site management, from Fayoum to the far reaches of the barren Western Desert; from the banks of the Nile to the Red Sea coast. Egypt has monuments of all periods -- some of the oldest churches and monasteries in the world, magnificent mosques and mausolea and sites of geological importance, and what stood out most clearly during the animated discussions was recognition of past mistakes and a strong desire to work towards a better managed future. There can be no successful restoration and conservation without commitment to preserve the environmental framework of a site, and that touches on location, history, architecture, and local residents. The question that arises is: can a sound strategy be worked out by a single coordinating body made up of individuals working together, in collaboration with international organisations and civil interest groups? The participants had this to say: "Any project to save an historical or archaeological area is doomed to failure unless it takes into account that the monuments themselves form but an infinitesimal part of the social fabric of an area." "To revitalise and successfully conserve an area depends on understanding the forces that created it in the first place, the pattern of streets or waterways, domestic architecture, as well as commercial and manufacturing activities." "The further training of professionals is essential and so is community involvement." "Something has to be done about the structure of politics and regulations." "The grassroots of society have to be taken into consideration because they are every bit as concerned about the country's heritage as the policy-making segment of the community." "Education is vital." "Get more young students involved." "It is not possible to develop and implement long-term plans for conservation and to subsequently maintain sites, without qualified employees, and an educated populace."
